The recent landfall of the tropical cyclone Nivar along the Tamil Nadu-Puducherry coast has caught the attention of news sources worldwide. The term “landfall” describes the phenomenon where a cyclone’s outer wall moves over the coastline and inland.
Understanding Tropical Cyclones
Tropical cyclones are intense, circular storms that typically originate over warm, tropical oceans. They are characterized by low atmospheric pressure, high winds, and heavy rain, with a distinguishing feature being their eye, a central region consisting of clear skies, warm temperatures, and low atmospheric pressure.
Depending on their location, these storms adopt different names. For instance, in the North Atlantic and eastern Pacific, they’re known as hurricanes. In Southeast Asia and China, they’re called typhoons. In the southwest Pacific and Indian Ocean region, they’re referred to as tropical cyclones, and in north-western Australia, they’re known as willy-willies.
These storms display varying rotational behavior based on their position relative to the equator; they rotate anticlockwise in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern hemisphere.
An Overview of Cyclone Nivar
Cyclone Nivar is the fourth cyclone to form in the North Indian Ocean region this year, following Cyclone Gati (which made landfall in Somalia in November), Cyclone Amphan (which was observed in eastern India in May), and Cyclone Nisarga (which landed in Maharashtra).
It follows two years after Cyclone Gaja hit Tamil Nadu back in 2018. Iran provided the name Nivar, following the naming guidelines set by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).
According to the WMO’s guidelines, each country within a region should contribute names for cyclones. The North Indian Ocean Region, which includes the formation of tropical cyclones in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea, comprises 13 members: Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Yemen.
Each country provided 13 names, totaling 169 cyclones names for this year. Nivar weakened from a very severe cyclonic storm to a severe cyclonic storm with a wind speed of 100-110 km per hour.
The Government’s Response to Cyclone Nivar
In response to the impact of Cyclone Nivar, the Tamil Nadu government declared a public holiday under the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, in 16 districts, including Chennai. Fishing activities in affected coastal areas were halted, and residents were evacuated. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has deployed teams to assist the regions affected by the cyclone.
